Just published: Report "2018 African Economic Outlook (AEO)"

The African Development Bank launched the 2018 edition of its yearly flagship report, the African Economic Outlook (AEO), on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at its headquarters in Abidjan. As a leading African institution, the Bank is the first to provide headline numbers on Africa’s macroeconomic performance and outlook.

The AEO report is available in: English, French, and Portuguese versions.

Besides analyses of recent macroeconomic developments and structural change across the continent, and the dynamics of growth, employment, and poverty, this year’s AEO provides new estimates of Africa’s infrastructure needs amounting to $130-170 billion a year a year, with a financing gap in the range of $68–$108 billion.

Africa now collects about $500 billion in tax revenue every year, $50 billion in foreign aid, $60 billion in remittances, and $60 billion in foreign direct investment inflows. More than $100 trillion is managed by institutional investors and commercial banks globally. African countries seeking financial resources now have a wide variety of options, well beyond foreign aid. Also in the picture are sovereign wealth funds and market finance. The 2018 AEO recommends new strategies and innovative financing instruments for countries to consider, depending on their level of development and specific circumstances.

Because all countries in the world, without exception, are constantly engaged in industrial policy, the AfDB also released recently a blueprint on how to do it right: download it here (featuring contributions from DPRU Director Prof Haroon Bhorat, and researchers François Steenkamp and Chris Rooney).